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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23589196">(Hey Brother) I'll do right by you this time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuroneko1815/pseuds/kuroneko1815'>kuroneko1815</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Narutails [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>BAMF Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto), BAMF Hyuuga Hinata, BAMF Uchiha Sasuke, BAMF Uzumaki Naruto, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 as Family (Naruto), F/M, Hatake Kakashi is so Done, Hinata in team 7, Naruto tries to play matchmaker, Overprotective Sasuke, Reincarnation, Sasuke thinks NaruHina is destined and will kill anyone who interferes with his OTP!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 23:15:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,060</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23589196</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuroneko1815/pseuds/kuroneko1815</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In one world, Indra never regretted killing his little brother. In another, his regret came in the moments between his brother's death and his own and that changes everything. Born into a new life and free from the influence of the Zetsu, he's determined to make this the final cycle and do right by his thankfully fully reincarnated little brother. Because let's be honest, no matter how many lifetimes they've been transmigrated before this reincarnation, his brother hasn't really grown up and he needs someone to watch out for him. Of course, it would be a lot easier if he wasn't on a quest to find Sasuke/Indra's one true love. Oh and he's gotta remember to kill Zetsu and the Akatsuki for daring to go after Ashura and their Bijuu siblings. Itachi? Itachi, who? Oh, him, yeah, he was gonna get his questions answered too.</p><p>Ashura, on the other hand, is just happy to have his big brother back. Even if he keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop and for his brother to turn on him again. But hey! Maybe finding him a good wife and letting him marry for love would help keep him sane! Also, yay! Indra's finally come around to his way of thinking when it comes to peace and he seems supportive enough of him becoming the Hokage.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto, Ootsutsuki Asura &amp; Ootsutsuki Indra, Uchiha Sasuke &amp; Uzumaki Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Narutails [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1698040</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>205</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Awakening</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I don't own Naruto, sadly. But this story has been festering in my mind for a while. Just a little thing though, this will feature overpowered characters. Also please check out Come Full Circle by Nemesis Necrosis who had partially inspired this fic.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Uzumaki Naruto stared out of his apartment window, eyes staring in the direction of the Uchiha compound as he laid a hand on his stomach, discretely channeling some chakra on to the seal and feeling the pleased hum of his Kyuubi brother. Kurama kept him sane as he endured the hatred of the citizens of the village. He knew his history, he knew his story. Uzumaki Naruto, the last Royal Uzumaki, one of the last two Senjus, and the son of the Yondaime Hokage who had sacrificed his only child to become the jailer of the Kyuubi no Kitsune.</p><p>Of course, no one knew about the Uzumakis, no one knew him as a Senju or as the Yondaime's child. To the rest of the world, he was just a nuisance and the Demon Child. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to relish the memories of another life. The memories of Ashura Otsutsuki washed over him as he turned away and tended to his plants, confident that no one would see, he willed the little tomato plant to grow more before plucking at one and smiling. Indra had always adored tomatoes and would have it whenever he could. He shivered as the night began to fall and something like foreboding ran through him.</p><p>He turned towards the Uchiha compound was wracked with guilt and was warring with himself. He stretched his senses further as he sought Indra's chakra within the compound itself and found the child to be content and tired. He nodded before going back to his school work. They could sabotage him all they wanted but as long as he passed the exams, he would be able to become a shinobi. It wasn't like they had much of a choice either, after all, the jinchuriki was a village's greatest weapon.</p>
<hr/><p>Fear, betrayal, regret, horror, anger, sorrow, and guilt washed over Naruto as he felt the spikes in emotions as the Uchiha clan members started to die, their chakra dispersing. Naruto grimaced as he smelt and tasted the blood in the air. He could feel Indra... no... Sasuke walking towards the compound and he made a decision on the spot as he glanced towards the ANBU posted as his guard. He turned around, face going frantic as he rushed to the nearest of his guards.</p><p>He doubled over and groaned as the others revealed themselves. He clutched the shirt of the closest one and whimpered. “Something's wrong. Something... people are dying. Can't you smell the blood?” He said to Dog.</p><p>Dog froze before tilting his head up and freeing himself. “Cat, take him to the Hokage. Rat, Boar, with me.” He said as he took off in the direction of the Uchiha compound. Naruto was gathered up even as he frowned when he felt a foreign chakra and he glanced at the compound again, head angled to rest on the shoulder of Cat as though he were resting. He could feel Itachi's chakra standing behind his parents while another one runs amok killing the remaining members of the clan.</p><p>He watched as Itachi killed his parents before Sasuke entered. It was over within moments as Itachi took off and Sasuke's presence dwindled into sleep. Naruto stopped using the Mind's eye and returned to the present as the Hokage tower came within view. There would be questions but everyone knew that he had higher senses than most so perhaps that could be explained away.</p>
<hr/><p>Itachi's Tsukiyomi didn't last long as Sasuke's mind slipped into memories of the past as his Sharingan awakened and rapidly matured into a Mangekyo Sharingan. Sasuke was forced to relive Indra's life and feel his emotions, his anger and his regret as Ashura's blood stained his hands. Soft hearted, innocent, and loving Ashura who had always looked up to him the way Sasuke had looked upon Itachi.</p><p>
  <em>'Itachi... why?' Sasuke's voice echoes within his own mind.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>'Sorry. I'm so sorry, Ashura. Please. Wake up.' Indra's voice says desperately as he holds his younger brother... but Sasuke had never had a younger brother. But who's blood was on his hands, who's head was on his lap. Red flashes beside him before Ashura's daughter looks at him, takes aim and hits him. Indra doesn't defend himself. He's tired and the Zetsu's influence fades away as he dies but then... </em>
  <em>
    <b>'I swear, I will destroy all that you've done, one day. I'll show you which among us is the strongest.'</b>
  </em>
  <em> A vow made in anger and under influence but... No, No, NO! Not again.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sasuke feels as though he's being torn apart as a part of his soul sticks to an innocent unborn child, his descendant... And then... Ashura? No, not him. Almost him, felt like him, but not his brother. And... What are you doing? You're supposed to be brothers! Stop fighting! Stop fighting Ashura!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And death and rebirth and fighting. Stop, please. Just stop! No more. Madara! Why? We were finally breaking the cycle! Why? Enough! And then his soul is whole. Is it over? The world tilts and he's being pulled away. I don't want to forget. Please. I want to end this. He's being reborn and this time he's the youngest child. This time, he's Sasuke Uchiha.</em>
</p><p>Sasuke's eyes snapped open, Mangekyo flaring for a moment in the darkness before fading away just as the ANBU and the doctors rush into his hospital room. He stays silent as memories reorient themselves in his mind. They call him Sasuke but it grates him, makes him feel unnatural. He longs to hear his brother call him Indra. He's almost tempted to correct them but he keeps quiet instead. Watches them, listens, as they explain that it's been a full month since the massacre.</p><p>He closed his eyes. He was the last of his clan. He was alone now, save for the time when he'd killed his best friends, Indra had never been alone. Not even during his multiple transmigrations. But... was he really alone? There was still Ashura's transmigration running around out there. It wasn't his brother, not in full but at least he could search him out and be a better brother then he had been. He froze as he felt Ashura's chakra not too far from the hospital, he sat up and gazed out, just beyond the gate of the hospital and he caught sight of a flash of blonde hair from where Ashura's chakra was. The figure was looking up towards his window but he was too far away for Sasuke to make out the features without using his Sharingan, he didn't need it though. There was only one person in the village with hair that shade of blonde so he already knew.</p><p>Sasuke kept his mouth shut as Uzumaki Naruto walked away after a few moments even though he had wanted to call out to the other boy. Wanted to beg his baby brother to stay with him and keep him company in the too-quiet hospital room. 'You too, huh?' He thought. There was only one reason why the blonde would seek him out and that was if he had awakened Ashura's memories. He buried his head in his hands, curled in on himself and let the outside world think that he was crying as he hid his grin. He wasn't alone after all.</p>
<hr/><p>It was a week before Sasuke was finally discharged and he had given his statement to the ANBU. Just before he was allowed to leave, the Hokage had arrived to speak to him. Well... the Hokage talked at him but Sasuke just barely remembered to nod at the appropriate places as he stared at the older man's robes.</p><p>He waited by the river banks every night for weeks on end, hoping that Ashura would approach him and even if it was wrong. Even if Ashura didn't remember. It would be enough to have some form of a relationship with his little brother. He couldn't approach the other boy, not when he was being watched by the Hokage's men. He couldn't bring that kind of attention to the bubbly blonde boy. He stayed away from the village as a whole, school was the obvious exception but even still, the other boy hadn't approached him.</p><p>Little glances between the two of them were shared but still, Naruto never ventured beyond the back rows where he and his friends, all of whom were at the very bottom of the class would laugh and slack off. Often falling asleep or disappearing in the middle of a lecture to cause mayhem of some sort and Sasuke has to keep himself from rolling his eyes and snorting because Ashura and Naruto were still the same, no matter what life. Hazy memories from previous transmigrations had shown him that he was always going to be a mischievous, innocent, and happy little slacker.</p><p>He thought back to today's spar where Naruto had gone away from the Academy style taijutsu and used the techniques their father had taught them in their Ninshu school. Sasuke allowed the memories of Indra to wash over him, shedding the Uchiha style as he responded in kind. It had been intense and had definitely impressed the teachers with the nearly hour-long spar. Naruto ended up on his back and there was a smile on his face as Sasuke helped him up, eyes glittering with knowledge.</p><p>The small flare of chakra alerted him to his brother as a figure came tumbling down. Sasuke sighed as he watched the orange and yellow ball roll down and coming to a stop a few meters below him. Naruto groaned and Sasuke approached the boy cautiously but with a twinge of worry. There was a bag laying a few inches away from him.</p><p>“Are you alright, Dobe?” He asked.</p><p>Blue eyes met his as tanned hands patted the blonde hair. “Yeah, Teme. I'm alright!”</p><p>“What are you even doing around here?” He asked quietly.</p><p>“Oh! I was on my way back from training! Dattebayo!” The smile was proud and sincere.</p>
<hr/><p>Naruto remembered the long questions from the Hokage after he'd been brought back to the tower while the Uchiha Massacre was taking place. Remembered how he'd faked an injury so well, the cries of the smell of blood turning to a full-blown panic attack and horror when Rooster came back with the words of “They're all dead, sir. All of the Uchihas except for the Second Son.”</p><p><em>Second Son. The one who bore Indra's will was still alive.</em> The Hokage became concerned by Naruto's reaction and had sent for his personal Doctor. They had chalked it up to his Uzumaki heritage for his sensor abilities and the Kyuubi for his heightened senses. 'Mental Trauma due to the sudden and violent dispersion of multiple chakras near simultaneously.' The Doctor had concluded before he was sedated. Or at least, Naruto feigned sedation in order to be closer to Indra. If he was being closely monitored after that little freakout, then so be it. If that was the price of being able to stay near Indra during those first few days then Ashura was alright with it. For two days he was kept in an isolated ward within the same hospital as his brother and it was nothing for him to use the Mind's eye and watch his brother from so far away.</p><p>When Sasuke returned, he was different. Indra's chakra felt whole and alive. Pulsing in a way that he knew most wouldn't be able to pick up on. And then there were the looks. Subtle glances sent his way, relief, and recognition. The silence was no longer from the superiority and dueling shyness from suddenly being surrounded by fangirls and being doted upon by an adoring older brother. This silence was contemplative and serious. The small smiles he once showed were all but absent, his responses curt.</p><p>It wasn't like him and perhaps it could have been chalked up to the massacre but there was something else there, lingering just behind. Something old. It reminded him of Indra. So Naruto allowed himself to hope that his brother was here as well, here as the brother he'd been as a child and not as the monster that had haunted his nightmares in the later years of their lives. The spar had given an excuse. Within a few minutes, he'd shifted his stance and began to fight as their Father and Uncle had taught him. Sasuke's lips quirked even as he subtly shifted and abandoned the Uchiha style altogether. They met each other strike for strike and unlike the first time he'd fought him at this age, he lasted nearly an hour. He wasn't even surprised when the bout ended with him tumbling to the floor.</p><p>There was proof and there was confirmation. He'd had proof but there could be a thousand different reasons for the boy to know the Katas of Ninshu so he began to plan. Naruto ran to his tomato plants and willed it to grow once more before plucking them. He began to prepare an old recipe, grabbing the ingredients of Indra's favorites. He remembered how his brother always seemed to like his cooking the most, though their Father never really learned how to cook so that could be the reason why.</p><p>So he went to the forest and trained. He went through the Academy style taijutsu and interspersed it with the Ninshu style, moved his body a bit and allowed the Senju and Uzumaki clan styles to add to his fighting. The transitions would look sloppy to those who weren't familiar with all of the styles. People would think that he was either so horrible at Taijutsu or that he was trying to create his own style.</p>
<hr/><p>When Naruto finally walked out of the forest, bag in hand, he made sure to take the route that would lead him to the riverbank. A brief flicker caught his eye but he didn't turn to look at the shinobi following him. A small shift to his feet to sell it as he allowed himself to tumble. Halfway down he cursed himself as he gripped the bag tight. This was his gift to Indra, his test to ensure that he remembered.</p><p>It seemed that Sasuke was just as eager to get him alone to talk because he was quickly invited to his home to have his wounds bandaged up. There was something meaningful in his tone so he nodded. As they drew closer, Naruto felt the emotions from that night etched within the very walls of the buildings and the land itself.</p>
<hr/><p>Sasuke frowned as he saw his classmate begin to sweat, his skin beginning to pale. The further they went into the compound, the worst the symptoms became. Then he began to stumble and wheeze. Alarm shot through him as he immediately grabbed the other boy and half dragged him to his house. The symptoms seemed to lessen as he shut the doors. Naruto had been bent over, practically dry heaving as tears fell.</p><p>“How? How can you stay here?” Naruto asked quietly once he'd calmed down. “Can't you feel them? They're crying. They're angry.”</p><p><em>Oh. <b>OH! </b></em>Ashura had always been sensitive to the emotions of others, always been more attuned to the world around them. He had been a sensor unlike any other and the scars left from that day would still be on the land itself. Sasuke silently cursed himself for bringing the other boy to the clan compound before any sort of purification could occur. It would make sense that he would have been able to pick up on it. Perhaps even see the afterimages of the people in their last few moments.</p><p>He disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a glass of water as he allowed the boy to sit in the living room. Once Naruto was calm, the blonde began to smile at him as he brought out large bento boxes from his bag.</p><p>“I'm hungry. Are you hungry, too?” The boy asked as he shoved it into Sasuke's hand.</p><p>Sasuke sighed and brought all of the food to the kitchen before setting things up. The blonde bouncing along after him. He eyed the boxes in suspicion before taking a deep breath and prayed to their Father that this wasn't one of Ashura's pranks before he opened it. His heart stopped as he saw the tempura tomatoes, tomato oden, and tomato rice as memories filled with dinners lovingly prepared by his little brother flashed through his mind.</p><p>“Ashura?” He whispered questioningly as he turned to the other boy. He needed to know.</p><p>Naruto nodded, eyes shining and smile so bright that he was reminded of the sun. “Indra-nii?”</p><p>That... that was all the confirmation he needed as happiness flooded into him. He stood away from him. Subtly moving so that he was facing a wall as he activated his Mangekyo and burned the image of his little brother in this new form. The orange would have to be dealt with at a later time but for now... he was content with what he found. He knew they were still being watched though they were a lot farther away, no doubt wary of the place. He allowed the Sharingan to fade.</p><p>“Ahh. Let's eat!” Ashura said as his stomach grumbled. Indra chuckled at his little brother. At least it seemed that his brother was willing to give him a chance and that was more than enough for him.</p>
<hr/><p>Naruto didn't approach Sasuke in class, at least, not immediately. When lunch came around he had turned to the boy surrounded by fangirls and laughed as he and his friends made their way out to eat.</p><p>“Yo Teme!” He yelled out and Sasuke's head immediately snapped towards him. “Wanna join us for lunch?”</p><p>Sasuke grunted and stood up, bento in hand even as Kiba's hissed questioning grew louder before Naruto waved him away and they all made their way out of the classroom leaving behind a gaggle of stunned fangirls. Once they were far enough away, the others began to burst out laughing at Sasuke's relieved and grateful look.</p><p>The lunch itself was just as lively as usual with Sasuke commenting every once in a while but more content to sit back with Shikamaru as the fangirls watched them from afar. They were unwilling to get any closer to the delinquent four even if their precious Sasuke-kun was there. At the end of the lunch, the boy in question turned to them with a calculating gleam in his eyes.</p><p>“I'm sitting with you all from now on.”</p>
<hr/><p>Sasuke wasn't stupid, he wasn't anywhere near his brother's caliber when it came to sensory arts but even he knew that they were being stalked and not just by the usual fangirls. Or at least, not <em>his</em> fangirls. No. This one particular one was one of their Uncle's descendants. The chakra was far stronger and purer than any save their cousin Kimiko and the restraint that was on the chakra was outstanding. The Hyuuga heiress was focused only on his brother but it seemed his little brother either didn't mind or he didn't notice and Indra was willing to bet that it was the latter.</p><p>His little brother would never change and would never really grow up. Ashura was always blind to the affections of others, let alone those of the other sex. It would take a miracle for him to actually notice when someone was interested in him unless he was hit in the head while the truth was literally being yelled at him. And yes, that was what had actually happened with Ashura and his wife. The girl had to beat it into him that she was in love with him.</p><p>He separated himself from his brother with an excuse of having to pee and wandered away before discreetly doubling back. He dropped behind the girl who was still none the wiser. “You know. Nothing will ever come of you just watching him right. Why don't you go talk to him?” He asked as he watched the girl shriek in surprise and stumble out before falling onto her back.</p><p>“Huh? Hinata-chan?” Naruto asked in confusion.</p><p>Sasuke sighed. “I think she wandered into the forest and got lost. Come on, let's help her find her way back to her house.”</p><p>Naruto nodded with a smile before dragging the flustered girl away. He let the sounds of Naruto's babble wash over him as the blonde drew their distant cousin out of her shell. Head tilting upwards he smiled and thought of his uncle. <em>'Don't worry Uncle. We'll take care of her.'</em> He vowed as they had finally delivered the girl to one of her Hyuuga kinsmen. Reading the subtle cues in his brother's body, he noticed the tightening around his eyes and the frown beginning to make itself known as his eyes flicked to the woman's forehead briefly.</p><p>When class came the next day he wasn't surprised when Naruto immediately raised his hand. “Hey, Hinata! Sit here!” He said excitedly, arms waving as two of the four members of the Delinquent Four dropped their heads to the table with a groan and Sasuke had to suppress a chuckle. Yup. He was beginning to see a pattern to his brother's actions and he began to wonder who his brother would end up inadvertently collecting. His money was on the Aburame heir, he practically screamed loneliness and he knew that his brother would be drawn to the boy sooner or later. No matter, as long as he didn't interrupt his brother's potential romance with Hinata he wouldn't mind him. Kurama may even help with the matchmaking scheme, that is, as soon as his Kyuubi brother forgave him for the trouble he's caused in the last few millenniums. <em>'Although it would be easier if the three of us were on a team together, at least I'll be able to make sure their relationship could progress.'</em> He thought before making a note to look up team formations.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yes, Sasuke has been observing Hinata stalking Naruto and has decided that she would be the perfect wife for his little brother and given that the other members of the Delinquent Four seemed not to have any real interest in the girl he was more than content to let them be. Shino is a wild card since the boy has been sneaking envious glances at them and Sasuke has yet to determine whether or not it's due to the friendship or due to his sister-in-law to be.</p><p>He's also a bit different here because he remembers being Indra more than he remembers being anyone else, even Sasuke, given the fact that he lived to a ripe old age. He's done the revenge thing, he's done the whole trying to conquer the world thing, he's done every bad thing that Hagoromo has told him not to do except rape and it's led to him being alone and their family broken so he's willing to just follow along with his brother's plans.</p><p>Let me know what you guys think! And please keep safe guys!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Rigging the System</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sasuke tries to calculate team formations. Naruto and Sasuke talk.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sasuke sat in his kitchen, little notes strewn about the tables as he tried to figure out the ideal team formations to get Naruto and Hinata on the same team. Just a few feet away from him, his little brother was asleep on the couch buried under the blankets that Sasuke had piled on him. He sighed as his little brother slept as carefree and dead to the world as he often did. From Ashura to Hashirama and even Naruto, the boy would never outgrow his devil may care attitude and perhaps a part of it had been Indra's fault. He'd always coddled and cossetted him. If Ashura didn't want to read then Indra wouldn't force him past the bare minimum of what was required by their father, if he didn't want to train and just wanted to run around outside and play... well, Ashura merely needed to turn to his brother with a pout and sad eyes before he would give in and end their training. Their father certainly never seemed to rebuke them, such things were often met with a sigh, a roll of the eyes, and a fond smile.</p><p>Ashura was coddled, Indra was not. Every expectation their father had ever had was placed upon his shoulders. Ashura was afforded the right to be a child, Indra was expected to be a prodigy who acted like an adult. He was everything an heir should be. Sasuke sighed as he pulled himself out of the past and chided himself to remain in the here and now. Eyes turning back to the book, a single line caught his eyes as he looked at all of the previous iterations of the now-famous Team 7.</p><p>Team Tobirama was the first to use this formation of the Top Boy and Girl being teamed with the lowest ranking student. From Team Tobirama to Team Minato, each team had followed the same formations and it had worked. Team 7 was known for producing legendary teams filled with powerful people who were notorious for their exceptional teamwork. Two Hokages and three other potential Hokage elects, at least before Orochimaru's defection. They were also quite notorious for the drama apparently.</p><p>Trying to remember the class rankings of the girls in the class was hard because he was never really interested in them. Eyes closed, he remembered when he had sneaked a peek of the class records when the teachers were busy elsewhere, his mind mentally tallying the scores of the girls in the class from whatever his Sharingan had recorded. He began to write the names of the girls in the class with Hinata's name at the very top. He frowned as he realized that the girl had placed third in the class and he scanned the page to see who had gotten the first and second place before he began to curse.</p><p>“Oh hell no!” He growled as Ino Yamanaka's name came up with the second-highest score while Sakura Haruno's name came in first. “I am not dealing with fangirls on my team. Especially not fangirl number 1 or 2.” And then he paused as he remembered the Ino-Shika-Cho formation. “I am not spending my genin days with the pink banshee.”</p><p>Sasuke's resolve burned as he began formulating a very rigid plan of attack to get Hinata to first place.</p><hr/><p>Two days later and Sasuke had dragged the Delinquent Four, Hinata, and the newly inducted Shino into the forest to have a war council. And as he glanced at the faces of the others, he smirked before he dropped a set of papers onto the ground. “Find your names. This will be your training regiment from now on.”</p><p>Everyone sat up and took notice and the reactions were just as he predicted. “ARE YOU CALLING ME WEAK?” Kiba yelled out while Shikamaru uttered 'troublesome' under his breath. Hinata was just frozen, Choji hadn't been bothered by it, Shino just raised a brow before reading through the training regiment created for him.</p><p>“YAY! Training! I'm gonna get so strong that I'll become Hokage! Dattebayo!” He screamed into Sasuke's ear to which Sasuke had merely slapped the back of his head.</p><p>Once the ringing in ear stopped he turned to his 'friends' and raised a hand. “Enough!” He said, tone sharp, defaulting back to the numerous lifetimes spent as clan leader. They're calm within seconds and their focus is on him. “We're going to be following the training plans to ensure that our teams will be better prepared for anything. I've calculated the scores and looked for patterns for previous team formations and there are two that are always in use. The Ino-Shika-Cho team and the Team 7 formula.” He explained.</p><p>“Team 7 formula?” Shikamaru asked suddenly very curious.</p><p>Sasuke gave him a small glare. “Even if you beat out Naruto for dead last, you're still not getting out of having Ino Yamanaka as your teammate.” He replied. “The team 7's of the past have always consisted of the Top Boy and Girl being grouped with the Dead Last.”</p><p>He paused and gave Hinata a long look, assessing her. Hinata flushed and looked away. “If we can bring you up to the top of the class and maintain it to graduation then there's a strong possibility that you'll be on my team with Naruto.” He told her. “Or you might be placed with Shino and Kiba because they would be the second in class standing and the second-lowest scorer discounting Shikamaru and the blonde menace... and the three of you would make a formidable tracking team.” He finished with a thought. Naruto is looking at him with something like pride at the way he commands the attention of the others much in the same way Hashirama had looked at Madara.</p><p>“So why exactly are you trying to manipulate the team formations?” Kiba asked.</p><p>He growled at the Inuzuka. “Would you rather be teamed up with someone incompetent whose ability you don't even understand? I'm certain that there are quite a few non-clan, second or third generation, or civilian born students within our year that have the potential to graduate. Do you want to be placed with them?” He asked. Kiba shook his head after a moment's thought. "I thought so.”</p><p>And then Sasuke sighed. “And also I'd like to avoid getting teamed with the Pink Banshee.” He admitted. The others just laughed at him after that.</p><p>“I...I would like to be placed on a team with you as well, Sasuke-san.” Hinata said stuttering. Naruto grinned and threw his arms around her shoulders.</p><p>“That's great! We can be teammates!” He told her enthusiastically before she fainted. “Huh? Hinata-chan?” He asked worriedly shaking her. Sasuke pulled him away.</p><p>“Moron. Just let her breathe and she'll wake up soon.” Hinata woke up just moments after that and the war council proceeded more smoothly. When all was said and done, they were dismissed and Sasuke gave his little brother a glance before turning his head subtly to Hinata.</p><p>Naruto smiled and hopped up. “Come on, I'll walk you home. My place isn't too far away from yours.” He said. Naruto still had his ANBU guards with him but they had both found out about the Hyuuga Affair from some of Fugaku Uchiha's papers and they were determined to ensure that Hamura's descendant wouldn't go through something like that again, or at least, that's what he'd told Naruto. Sasuke was just giving the two a chance to bond.</p><p>When he turned around, the only ones left were Shikamaru and Choji. The former was looking at him suspiciously. “Does Naruto know you're trying to set the two of them up?” He asked.</p><p>Sasuke smirked. “No.”</p><p>Choji snorted and Shikamaru laughed.</p><hr/><p>Sasuke and Naruto were sitting by a waterfall, the guards around them were far enough away that they wouldn't hear anything they were saying but the rush of the water added another layer of privacy. “Tell me about your life, Nii-chan.” Naruto said as he turned to his big brother.</p><p>Sasuke looked blank. “I was born eight years ago to...”</p><p>“No, not that! I mean... what happened after we fought, the first time around. What was your life like after you... after...” Naruto couldn't bring himself to say <em>after you left me.</em></p><p>It was silent for a moment as his brother thought about how to answer. “It was... an adequate life, I suppose.”</p><p>“Adequate?”</p><p>“It means...”</p><p>“I know what it means! I just... weren't you happy?” He asked. Feud aside, Ashura had lived a happy life with the followers of his father's teachings, their uncle's family, and with a loving wife and children. He'd hoped his brother had found some happiness within his own home, with the family that he'd formed. It was hard for him to fathom his brother being anything else.</p><p>Sasuke sighed. “I'm not like you. You've always found people who would follow you to the death. People flocked to you easily and they loved you without any real hardship. I wasn't like that. I've only ever married for convenience and necessity.”</p><p>“Never?” Naruto whispered stunned. “But what about Shiori? Didn't you love her?”</p><p><em>Shiori</em>, now that was a name he hadn't thought about in a long time. Indra's wife. “She was a gentle woman and a good mother. She definitely cared more for me than I did for her. She was... tolerable, I suppose.”</p><p>“Tolerable! In one sentence you called her a good woman and that you cared for her but the most you could make it was tolerable?” Naruto hissed at his brother furiously.</p><p>“As I've said, I'm not like you. I don't feel things as deeply as you do.”</p><p>“Liar.” Naruto spat. “You feel things deeply too because if you didn't then you wouldn't have been so offended and betrayed by father's choice. If you didn't feel things deeply then you wouldn't have saved me and comforted me after the bear. You had four children with that woman.”</p><p>“Naruto.” Sasuke said quietly. “I've broken nearly every one of our father's moral teachings. She was a dalliance that had fallen pregnant, I could have ended her there but I decided not too, I needed an heir so I married her.”</p><p>He was stoic and Naruto realized that his brother was beginning to lose his patience. “And the others? Madara?”</p><p>“I am not Madara.” His brother said.</p><p>“Maybe not fully, but we have their memories.”</p><p>“Akiko was purely clan politics.”</p><p>“And your children?” Because surely... surely his brother had it in him to be a father, to be a loving one at that. The gentleness he treated him with, the soft and loving way Madara had looked after Izuna... surely that would translate to fatherhood.</p><p>“They were...” Naruto narrowed his eyes if his brother said anything to the tune of tolerable or worse then he would punch him. “Enjoyable, to a certain degree. I never really was that hands-on with them. I often left it to the women I married.” Naruto's eye twitched.</p><p>The silence became awkward. “Do you still want to destroy everything father and I built?” He whispered. This was a question that he'd been avoiding for weeks but should have been the first thing he'd established.</p><p>“No. I'm tired of fighting against you. I've always ended up alone afterwards. We'll see where things take us but... I'm going to do my best to support you from now on.” Sasuke told him, voice sincere.</p><p>“Even my dream to become Hokage?” He asked, insecure.</p><p>Sasuke chuckled before ruffling his hair the way that Indra used to do to Ashura. “Especially that.” He said with a soft smile. Naruto beamed at him, heart light and happy.</p><hr/><p>Alone in his apartment, Naruto checked his seals before lying down on his bed and falling into his mind. “I think Nii-chan needs to know what it's like to marry for love.” He said out loud. “What do you think Kura-chan?” He asked turning to the giant fox in the cage. His mind's representation had always been the forest of Ashura's childhood within the Land of Ancestors that his grandmother had once ruled.</p><p>Kurama growled at the child. “Do not talk about that traitor in my presence.”</p><p>Naruto frowned at his brother. “He wants to talk to you. He wants to say sorry, can't we just make peace and be family again? Nii-chan really regrets it you know.”</p><p>“Regrets it? He's not the one who's locked up. He's the reason why our brothers and I are all sealed inside humans to be used at their convenience as weapons!” He roared.</p><p>“Kurama...”</p><p>“Go, leave.”</p><p>“But...”</p><p>“No, I've had enough of this for tonight. Now LEAVE!” He roared and Naruto found himself pushed out of the mind space. And just as every night since his brother's memories had awoken, Naruto would stare out to the night sky to remember the days long since gone and to think of the what if's. The silence was often suffocating for him while the Uchiha compound was too loud with the emotions and impressions of that night. At least in his apartment, he could still talk to Kurama even if it had become short and explosive talks, it had become the norm since Indra had expressed a desire to speak to their Kyuubi brother but every day he asked, Kurama would refuse and Naruto was forced to see his big brother try not to express how hurt he was by the refusal.</p><p>It wasn't fair! Hashirama had been the one to hunt down and seal each and every one of the Bijuu but Indra was the one that Kurama was taking his anger out on. Alright, so Madara might have been the one who used their brother to attack Konoha but still! Hashirama had been the one who hunted them down. Naruto pouted and allowed himself to think back on the conversation again. “I know! If Nii-chan has never married for love then I'll find him someone to marry that he'll love!” He said happily.</p><p>“I wonder if Hinata-chan would help me?” He mumbled with a grin. Hinata sneezed while Sasuke shivered, a feeling of foreboding suddenly came down upon him. The one he'd get when his brother, in any life, was about to cause some mischief that was usually targeted at him.</p>
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